Fire-escape.



No. 647,845. Patented Ap. I7, |900. A. .1. KING. FmE EscAPE.

\App1ication led Jan. 25, 1900.)

QNU Model.)

ffomey PATENT Enron.

ANTONE J. KING, OF ORCAS, VASHINGTON.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 647,845, dated April 17, 1900. Application filed January 25, 1900. Serial No. 2,774. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTONE J. KING, a citizen of the United States, residingat Orcas,iu the county of San Juan and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of 'the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of' reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in fire-escapes, and especially to an apparatus adapted to be held to the outer wall of a house at a location near the roof and containing a pulley and rope the ends of which are adapted to be connected together to make an endless. cable, said cable adapted to be coiled up and held near the roof, means being provided whereby said coil of rope or cable may be disengaged from the supporting-pin and allowed to fall by gravity to the ground, thereby providing means for lowering persons safely to the ground from the various stories of the building or of hoisting up hose-pipe to any story or a fireman, as may be desired.

More specifically, my invention consists in the provision in a fire-escape, of a pulley secured to a block fastened near the roof and underneath the eaves, said pulley carryinga rope the ends of which are fastened together in any suitable manner, and to said rope being fastened a flexible ball which may be hollow and iniiated and adapted for a person to sit astride while being lowered from any of the various stories to the ground, and the provision of a bar which is pivoted to a sta-V tionary plate, said bar being held in an upwardly-inclined position by means of a releasing member, to which is connected a rope extending through the various stories and accessible from each, whereby said releasing member may be raised from engagement with said bar, which supports the coil of rope which passes over the pulley and allows the end of the rope to fall by gravity to the ground beneath and be in readiness to lower persons from the various stories.

To these ends and to such others as the invention may pertain the same consists, further, in the novel construction, the arrangement, and adaptation of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and then specilically defined in the appended claim.

My invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form part of this application, and in which- Figure l is a front elevation showing my improved fire-escape as applied to the front wall of a building having a number of stories. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of means for holding and releasing the coil of rope which passes over the pulley.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates a bolt which is passed through the front wall of the building or suitably attached thereto and carries a pulleyB in an eye at its outer end. Pass-w ing over this pulley is a rope or cable C, which has secured theretoa rod D, having an eye at each end, and on said rod is mounted a flexible ball E, which is made, preferably, of hide and in flated, forming a suitable cushion, on which a person can sit while being lowered from any of the stories of the house to the ground beL neath. Secured to the eye on the opposite end of said rod is a short piece of rope or cable 'F, carrying a snap-hook G at its other end,

which snap-hook is designed to engage in a loop C in the other end or" the cable C, thus making,when the several parts are connected, a continuous or endless rope or cable passing over the pulley B. Fastened to the front wall of the house at a location adjacent to said pulley and slightly above the same is a threaded bolt J, having an eye J', to which is loosely held the releasing-link K, which has at its free end lateral and oppositely-extendinglugs K', and an eye L, to which one end of the rope M is connected, said rope passing through a pulley or loop N and its end extended down the wall of the building, and, if desired, the said rope may be passed through api pe or tube at any location and extended a suitable distance through the lower story and within convenient reach of anyperson,either in the lower story, through which said end passes, or within reach of persons who may be at any of the various windows adjacent to the fire-escape apparatus. lIJivot-ally held to the plate R,

which is secured to the wall of the building at a location preferably beneath the screwthreaded bolt having an eye to which the releasing-link is held, is a bar S, which has a -no'tch S at its free end, in which the free end of the link K is adapted to engage to hold the said bar in aniupright position. Said bar is` provided to hold up the endless cable to which the ball is secured, which cable is rst coiled tus is then ready for' use.

, In operation the cable may be utilized'for hoisting iiremen from the ground to any of thevarious stories,or by disengagi ng the snaphook Vfrom the loop one end of the rope or ca- 'ble may be fastened around a hose for the purpose of pulling the same up.

. described .maybe used by hoisting the same When the'ends i of the rope are connected together, the ball.

to positions opposite either one of the stories, and persons by sitting asti-ide the ball may .be safely lowered to the ground in a manner which will be clearly understood from the foregoing when taken in connection with the drawings forming part of this application.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'- y A fire-escape comprising'in combination with the pulley B and rope carried thereby, the bar Spivoted at its lower end to the outer wall of a building, an eyebolt J, a link K pivoted thereto, said link having a T-shaped end K' adapted to rest in a recess or notch in the free end of said bar S to hold the same in an upright inclined position, a rope M secured to said link K, and passed through a suitable eyelet N, whereby said link may be raised from engagement with the bar S, to

allow the saine to fall by gravity, and release said rope carried bythe pulley, which rope is foldedover said bar, as shown and described. In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses'. A

-AN'IONEP J. KING.

i Witnesses: I y

' .GEORGE GIBBs, L. CY.. GIBBS. 

